In an unusual move, Lebanese interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati sharply criticized Iran on Friday for trying to meddle in his country’s affairs.
He instructed Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib to summon Iran’s deputy ambassador, according to a report by Lebanese state news agency NNA.
He referred to a statement by Iran’s Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who had offered negotiations between Tehran and Paris on the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which was adopted to put an end to to the previous war in Lebanon in 2006.
The resolution required both Israel and the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah to withdraw from an area in southern Lebanon between the Litani River and the Israeli border. It also called on Hezbollah and others to disarm and set up the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), a peacekeeping mission to patrol the area.
“We are surprised by this position, which represents an open interference in Lebanese affairs and an attempt to establish an unacceptable guardianship over Lebanon…,” Mikati reportedly said.
The government in Beirut is working with all of Lebanon’s friends, including France, to push Israel toward a ceasefire, he said.
“The subject of negotiations to implement the international Resolution 1701 is undertaken by the Lebanese state, and everyone is obliged to support it in this direction, and not try to impose new mandates that are rejected by all national and sovereign considerations ”, said Mikati.
For years, Iran has exerted significant influence over Lebanese politics and public life through Hezbollah, which has established a state within a state.
